On Existence Again. An Attempt at a Recapitulation

  • Jacek Wojtysiak The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Philosophy
Keywords: existence; real and intentional objects; the esse-essentia distinction; Aquinas; Barry Miller

Abstract

In the paper, I put forward my views on the topic of existence. I do it by focusing on three distinctions: between static conceptions of existence and dynamic ones; between existence (of something) as a fact and as a principle of being; and between the limited existence of contingent beings and the Divine existence itself. I try to defend the cognitive value of the second parts of these distinctions in ontological and theological contexts. In my opinion, existence as a dynamic factor of being makes the difference between real and intentional objects, as well as between real (actual) and potential states of the world. Existence is also a necessary condition of proper activities of beings. In the final parts of the article I discuss some objections stated by Marek Piwowarczyk in his essay “Troubles with an Analysis of Facts of Existence.” I maintain that most of these (or similar) difficulties can be resolved by means of tools present in Barry Miller’s conception of existence.

References

Augustyn, św. 1987/397–401. Wyznania. Tłum. Zygmunt Kubiak, Warszawa: IW PAX, 19873.

Feser, Edward. 2014. Scholastic Metaphysics. A Contemporary Introduction. Heusenstamm: Editiones Scholasticae, 2014.

Geach, Peter. 1969. „Form and Existence”. W: tenże. God and the Soul. South Bend: St. Augustine’s Press 19692, s. 42–64.

Hempoliński, Michał. 1989. Filozofia współczesna. Wprowadzenie do zagadnień i kierunków. T. I. Warszawa: PWN, 1989.

Lyons, John. 1989. Semantyka. Tłum. Adam Weinsberg. T. II. Warszawa: PWN, 1989.

Miller, Barry. 2002. „Existence”. W: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2009/entries/existence/

Miller, Barry. 1996. A Most Unlikely God. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Nature of God. Notre Dame and London: Notre Dame University Press, 1989.

Munitz, Milton Karl. 1974. The Mystery of Existence. An Essay in Philosophical Cosmology. New York: New York University Press, 1974.

Piwowarczyk, Marek. 2017. „Trudności analizy faktu istnienia”. Roczniki Filozoficzne 65 (2017), nr 4: 61–92. Niniejszy numer RF.

Stępień, Antoni B. 1999. „Zagadnienie kryterium istnienia”. W: tenże. Studia i szkice filozoficzne. T. I, 322–337. Lublin: RW KUL, 1999.

Stróżewski, Władysław. 1994. „Trzy koncepcje istnienia”. W: tenże. Istnienie i sens, 49–72. Kraków: Znak, 1994.

Tomasz z Akwinu, św. 1994/1256. O bycie i istocie. De ente et essentia. W: Mieczysław A. Krąpiec. Byt i istota. Św. Tomasza ‘De ente et essentia’. Przekład i komentarz, 9–47. Lublin: RW KUL, 1994.

Tomasz z Akwinu, św. 2010/1265–1266. Kwestie dyskutowane o mocy Boga. Questiones disputatae de potentia Dei. T. IV. Red. Mateusz Przanowski i Jan Kiełbasa, tłum. Beata Spieralska i Magdalena Bieniak-Nowak. Kęty, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Marek Derewiecki, Instytut Tomistyczny, 2010.

Weigel, Peter J. 2008. Aquinas on Simplicity: An Investigation into the Foundations of His Philosophical Theology. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2008.

Published
2020-06-12
Section
Articles